Chapter 3 The Silver Vein

Lyra's Point of view

There's a kind of silence that doesn't feel empty.

It feels dangerous.

Cassian stood between us and the only exit. His shadow stretched long across the floor, touching the broken mirror like a warning. He still held the pendant in his hand-my pendant-the one that had seared a mark into my chest and turned my world upside down.

"You're not supposed to have that," I said, my voice quieter than I wanted. I hated how small I sounded.

Cassian raised an eyebrow. "No? Funny. Because it feels like it belongs to me."

His smile didn't reach his eyes. They'd gone dull again-normal-but I couldn't unsee the flash of silver. Naomi took a slow step closer to me. I could feel her pulse thudding just as fast as mine.

"What do you want?" she asked, trying to sound braver than she looked.

Cassian didn't answer right away. He tossed the pendant up once and caught it again, like it was nothing more than a shiny trinket. Then he walked toward the cracked mirror, crouched beside the silvery runes, and tapped one with his finger.

"You know," he murmured, "this place used to be sacred. Long before the dorms, the observatory, even the stupid curfews. This tower was where it all began."

He looked at me now. Directly.

"Where you began."

My mouth went dry.

"What do you mean?"

Cassian stood slowly. "You think this is about some ancient bloodline? Some spooky dream nonsense?" He stepped closer, holding the pendant out between us like a thread about to snap. "You're not just descended from Moonborne, Lyra. You are Moonborne. The first one reborn in over five hundred years. And this?" He dangled the pendant. "This was forged to keep your power sealed. But the eclipse? The mirror? It broke the binding."

"I don't understand," I whispered, but deep down, something inside me did. Something ancient that had been stirring since the night of the eclipse.

He was right. The pain. The voice in the mirror. The dreams I'd had since arriving at Lunaris.

"I'm not the only one waking up," I said, more to myself than anyone.

Cassian smiled again, this time with something close to respect.

"No. But you're the only one who matters."

That should've been a compliment. It didn't feel like one.

Naomi grabbed my wrist gently. "We need to leave. Now."

But Cassian blocked the stairwell again. His tone darkened.

"There's something you need to understand," he said, voice low. "This prophecy? It's not a story-it's a countdown. And when it ends, the seal over the celestial gate will shatter. You can either control what comes through or be destroyed by it."

"What comes through?" I asked.

He hesitated. Just a second.

Then he said, "A god."

---

We ran.

Or maybe we fled. It's hard to tell the difference when your legs are shaking and your brain is trying to fold in on itself.

Naomi didn't speak until we were back in the dorm, slamming the door behind us. I leaned against it, trying to breathe. Trying to stop my thoughts from spiraling.

"Did he say a god?" she finally croaked.

"Yeah," I breathed. "He did."

She paced the room like a caged wolf. "We can't trust him. He knew too much. And why did he just let us go?"

I shook my head. "Maybe he wanted me to know. Maybe this was part of the plan."

I glanced down at the mark on my skin, still faintly glowing like a scar from a dream. "He said I'm the only one who matters. That this pendant kept me sealed. If that's true... who made it? And why now?"

Naomi suddenly stopped pacing. "Wait. What about your parents?"

I frowned. "What about them?"

She looked at me like I'd just missed something obvious. "Have they ever said anything? About your family history? Your bloodline? Maybe they knew."

A knot formed in my stomach. "They're not my biological parents."

Naomi blinked. "What?"

"I was adopted when I was a baby. They never told me much. Just that I was found on a doorstep during the winter solstice. Wrapped in silver cloth."

Naomi sat down slowly. "Lyra, that's not normal. That's straight up prophecy-core."

I gave her a flat look. "Thanks."

She pulled her laptop out from under the bed and flipped it open. "I'm going to look into the archives. The school has old records, going back centuries. Maybe I can find something on Moonborne lineages. Anything tied to the winter solstice or abandoned infants."

"Be careful," I said. "If Cassian's watching us-"

"Let him watch," Naomi muttered. "I want him to know we're not clueless sheep."

As she typed away, I stared at my reflection in the window.

For a second... my eyes looked silver again.

---

Later that night, after Naomi fell asleep face-first into her keyboard, I crept down to the old greenhouses.

I don't know why. Maybe it was instinct. Maybe it was the way the moonlight felt different tonight-thicker, sharper, like it was trying to tell me something. The greenhouse was overgrown, filled with moss and vines and the soft sound of dripping water.

I walked toward the far end, where an old stone bench sat under a tangled arch of ivy.

And there, sitting casually like he'd been waiting all night, was Cassian.

"I figured you'd come," he said softly.

I crossed my arms. "Then you figured wrong. I came for answers."

He looked tired, older than usual somehow. "There's more going on than even I understand. But I do know this-there's something beneath Lunaris. Something ancient. It's not just legend. It's real. And it's waking up because you're waking up."

I sat, not close to him, but not far either. "What happens if I choose not to be part of it?"

Cassian looked at me. "Then everything dies. The gate will still open, but no one will be strong enough to control it. And the thing on the other side?"

He shook his head.

"It doesn't want peace. It wants revenge."

I was quiet for a moment.

Then I asked the question that had been digging into me since the tower.

"Why are you helping me?"

Cassian didn't answer right away.

Then he whispered, "Because I made a promise. A long time ago. To someone you look exactly like."

I blinked. "What?"

He stood.

"You should get some rest," he said, stepping into the shadows.

But before he vanished completely, he added one last thing.

"She wore the same pendant. And she died trying to stop what's coming."

And then he was gone.